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“Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.” Winston Churchill

I’m rerunning some Choral Ethics blogs from years past with a few modifications where needed. Two of my MOST REQUESTED December Blogs will also be making their yearly appearances.

In a few days, it will be Christmas Eve. Your plans have been made for months if you’re anything like me. But this is the Christmas of 2025, so you probably have a “Plan B” if you’re smart and I know you are. Here in the Midwest, there could be a blizzard predicted, so that always adds another layer of planning. Just when we think things are back to “normal,” something happens to mess it all up!

Advent and Christmas, more than Lent and Easter, are much more stressful for our profession. I’m not sure why, but perhaps it’s the gift giving and baking and traveling to see family and friends and all the concerts and services we must prepare or attend. Or maybe it’s just the time of year, who knows? We have many things to accomplish, usually in the dark, and we rarely get all accomplished. I do know for a fact we’re all stressed.

I am here today to remind you to try to be as relaxed as you are able to be, in this super busy season for Choral Folk. Take a breath and when you are thrown for a loop, take another breath. And be kind. Be kind to those around you, whether they be your family, your choir or those you work with. Make kindness “your thing” this Christmas, no matter what happens. Be kind, my dear friends, and reap the benefits later.

Stress cancels out the beauty of the season and there is plenty of beauty so take a breath, do your Alexander Technique breathing or yoga breathing, and take a moment to relax and enjoy. You deserve the beauty; you deserve the goodness you’ve been creating for everyone else this holiday season. You deserve to have some cookies and eggnog and punch, so have some. And you deserve to have some Fa-La-Las directed by someone else for a change!

Know you’ve made a difference in someone’s life this holiday season and you may never know it. Be okay with not knowing because that will be your gift to the world. Your choir singing “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen” may have comforted a child who lost a parent this year or someone newly widowed. Singing “Silent Night” may be the only time a rough and tough teenager uses their voice and finds they like singing. Something you do, something you have planned, something you are not aware of will make a difference. You may find out, you may not, but know you have made a difference.

Much love to you all, ChoralNet, as we ’round the corner to Christmas.

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Donald Appert added to RedHouse Arts catalog

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RedHouse Arts is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Donald Appert to our growing team of choral composers.  Dr. Appert is Music Director/Conductor of the Clark College Orchestra in Vancouver, Washington, where he also serves as Professor and Head of the Music Department.  He conducts the Oregon Sinfonietta in Portland, Oregon and is the […]

Pacific Chorale releases new recording of Rachmaninov’s “Vespers”

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            Santa Ana, CA – Pacific Chorale Artistic Director John Alexander and President and CEO Kelly Ruggirello announce the November 7, 2010 release of the organization’s newest recording, Pacific Chorale Live: Rachmaninov Vespers. Recorded during the 140-voice Pacific Chorale’s May 23, 2010 performance of the Russian masterwork, this is the Chorale’s tenth […]

Lady Gaga Goes A Cappella

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I shared this with my choir a couple of weeks ago but forgot to share it here – a tremendous trio of singers does Lady Gaga:   Who are these kids, and did they write the music down?   (edited for egregious grammatical errors late morning – plc)

Requiem for the Queen who sponsored the discovery of America Now available in pdf downloadable from your computer

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  Fidelio Musica edicion has recently published the world’s first edition of Mass Pro defunctis by the Portuguese composer Pedro de Escobar also known as Pedro do Porto.  Escobar’s requiem is the first iberian Requiem and one of the first in Europe to follow the example of Johannes Ockeghem’s Requiem. According to the musicologists Tess […]

They aren’t singing anymore . . . .

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Congregations aren't singing anymore and most worship leaders haven't noticed. I discovered this fascinating blog post pointed from a Facebook post courtesy of Samford wonder-student and ChoralNet member Peter Haley:   The people in our churches aren't singing anymore – not really. To be sure, there are many churches that have congregations singing with enthusiasm, but generally […]

Random Act of Culture in Philadelphia

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On Saturday, October 30, 2010, the Opera Company of Philadelphia brought together over 650 choristers from 28 participating organizations to perform one of the Knight Foundation’s “Random Acts of Culture” at Macy’s in Center City Philadelphia. Accompanied by the Wanamaker Organ – the world’s largest pipe organ – the OCP Chorus and throngs of singers […]

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